Sarah Finnegan

I am a Geography student and have completed a year in industry placement with Basis Yorkshire, a local charity that provides safety, information and support to women and girls in Leeds. They support marginalised women who may face barriers in accessing support and provide specialist one to one support to girls experiencing child sexual exploitation (CSE). My role as Project and Outreach assistant is a combination of both frontline work with service users and admin work supporting the projects.

The main focus of my placement has been developing their social media and marketing strategy, by taking a lead role in managing the social media accounts and other forms of publicity. For example, I identified software that could be used to create infographics and used this to design leaflets, flyers and images to promote the work of Basis both online and through print. I also undertook research projects, led drop-in sessions and outreach work with service users, and assisted with developing their volunteer programme.

Through my placement, I accessed training on a wide range of topics including child sexual exploitation (CSE), domestic violence and motivational interviewing. I had the opportunity to network and build relationships with leading practitioners and professionals within Leeds City Council. West Yorkshire Police, the NHS and other third agencies.